Not surprisingly, MOBILE and social topped usages during Chinese New Year, with figures which again beat the records and illustrated the insatiable engagement of Chinese netizens. But what if the “real”, the other novelty, was elsewhere? In the very traditional New Year Gala on CCTV State channel? Robots and drones choreographed national pride, with the precision of a military parade, demonstrating Chinese innovation and high-tech ambitions.
The Alipay – WeChat Pay Match
Does growth slow down? Not that of the Chinese Internet stars. Tencent has multiplied by 10 its 2015 record with over 32 billion digital envelopes (1) exchanged on its star-app WeChat, and the participation of 516 million MOBILE users during the week of Chinese New Year. Even as great rival Alipay ALIBABA GROUP), the leader in mobile payments with about 45% market share ((2) vs 20% for Tenpay (WeChat pay QQ + Wallet), and 400 million users, replaced him – paying 5 times more ($ 42Million) than WeChat in 2015 – as the privileged partner of this must-see television programme
In January already, a poll (3) predicted a positive turnaround for Television: 72% of Chinese respondents would have said they would “definitely” watch New Year’s Gala on CCTV vs 58% in 2015. No doubt Tencent which made the news in 2015 with 180 million “shakers” (WeChat function) across 204 countries to receive these red envelopes, helped generate high expectations for this edition
Chinese pure players, the kings of entertainment
On November 11, 2015 already, Jack Ma and ALIBABA had entered the annals of television history. By making the largest online global shopping event, 11.11 or Singles’ Day, a 3 hours live TV show, beating the Americans at their own game, with guest star Daniel Craig on stage, or with Kevin Spacey’s appearance on video, in his role as Frank J.Underwood in “House of Cards”, diverted for the occasion, in honor of Tmall… An evening that had reached up to 30% viewing market share, making as much or better than, New Year’s Gala audiences on CCTV
500 robots and 30 drones “to reach the heights”
But this February 8, 2016, the 4h30 long tv show – unchanged ritual – has not only shown how digital channels are reshaping the celebrations in Asia, with the extraordinary popularization of mobile payments. Indeed, signs of the political climate are sometimes detected in the evening of New Year’s Gala, the content being state-controlled.
With Guangzhou’s skyline illuminated with lasers in the background, and filmed by a fleet of drones (as much part of the show), an unlikely ballet of robots, designed and manufactured in Shenzhen, the tech-hub of Guangdong region, followed the cadence of a patriotic song “Rush towards the pinnacle of the world, saying “The world is right in front of me, the future is in my sights, the earth is at my feet“.
Almost exactly the feeling EHang, the Chinese drones manufacturer, must have felt, as he made a splash at the last Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas in January, while presenting the first civilian drone with passenger, EHang184
Chinese New Year Gala: extracts with Robots and Drones
The Chinese Government’s emphasis on innovation in emerging sectors such as robotics or computing, will have found its most beautiful setting: the first worldwide television event that brought together 690 million viewers in 2015 (compared to 114M Super Bowl 2015)
If that was necessary, a recent study (5) placed the Chinese in top position as the most optimistic people (41%), far ahead of the Americans (6%), and the French as the least (3%), or most pessimistic people.
Laure de Carayon – Founder&CEO China Connect
(1) Tradition d’offrir des enveloppes rouges “Hongbao” avec un peu de cash, qui fut digitalisée en 2014 par Tencent/WeChat
(2) source: Analysys International – Q3 2015
(3) source: Admaster
(4) Source : YouGov UK – Nov-Dec 2015